Meet Paul Crook

Paul Crook, new administrator at Pioneer Health Care Center, has a long and varied career, culminating in 15 years experience as a nursing home administrator.

Bette McFarren

Paul Crook came to Pioneer Health Care Center on July 15 as the new nursing home administrator. He and his wife Kathy relocated to Rocky Ford from the Grand Junction area. Crook's most recent position prior to arriving in Rocky Ford was Administrator of the Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home at Rifle. He has a BA in sociology and an master's degree in business administration. He is a licensed Nursing Home Administrator in Colorado and Texas with 15 years of experience in Independent Living, Assisted Living, Long Term Care, GeroPsych units and Finance Unit Management.
He and his wife Kathy are both Certified Nursing Assistants. She was in retail management for many years and is also a QMAP (person authorized to administer medications). How do they feel about living in the Arkansas Valley? "We love it, said Paul. "Everyone has been so nice, and it feels like home. I grew up in a small town myself, and I'm looking forward to meeting the people of the Rocky Ford area."
How did he get interested in a career as a nursing home administrator?
Crook has had many different interests in a long and varied career, but he loves children and seniors. "I like to listen to seniors. You can learn a lot from them." In Rifle, there were many World War II veterans who took the honor flight out of Grand Junction to be part of the ceremony in Washington, D.C. to honor World War II veterans.
His present career started in 1991 with a question from a woman at church as they were both training for the prison fellowship. "Have you thought about being a nursing home administrator?" she asked. He had done many things in his life, starting with being drafted into the army during the Viet Nam war. He rose to the rank of Sergeant E5 in 14 months. He has done warehouse management and finance management. He studied sociology at the University of New Mexico, finishing his BA in 1979. He was a social worker for awhile. He even had a restaurant named Zack's in the upper canyon in Ruidoso, a racehorsing resort in southern New Mexico.
When he took his first course in nursing home administration, a year's course including federal and state certification tests, he knew he had found his niche. This was a combination of his social work background and his administrative skills. He became a Certified Nursing Assistant because he didn't want to have to call a nurse when some small thing needed to be done for a patient.
What is the most interesting thing about being a nursing home administrator?
"There are so many interesting stories, it would be hard to pick one out," said Crook. "We have had some celebrities at the facilities where I have worked, but I couldn't name them without their permission." Sometimes they weren't sure who they were and found out later.
In New Mexico, he became friends with a famous artist, Jerry Rice, who found fame with his portrait of "Hot Lips, the Purple Heifer," featured in the movie, "The Rustlers." He also knew Dave McGarey, an artist who does very ambitious bronze statues as well as oils and acrylics.
What is the thing you like least about your job as nursing home administrator?
"The challenge of the financial environment we have today, being expected to do more with less, dealing with the medicare and medicaid procedures and programs."
What is the most inspiring thing about your job?
"That's easy. It's seeing the smiles on the faces of the people we take care of."
More about Paul Crook:
Born: Artesia, New Mexico
Veteran of Viet Nam War
BA: University of New Mexico, sociology, 1979
MBA: Phoenix University, 1993
Family: Wife Kathy, who has two children, several grandchildren who live in Illinois. He has one son who lives in New Mexico and a granddaughter.
Bilingual: Se hable espanol. "After all, I grew up in New Mexico," said Crook.